Spring 2002
Spring
2002
In a conversation with soundings, Ellen Harris discusses her new work Handel as Orpheus: Voice and Desire in the Chamber Cantatas.
Soundings is published by the Dean's Office of the
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at MIT
Bullets & bytes
Charles Stewart steps in as associate dean
CSD hosts National Initiative for Minority Women Faculty
Charles Stewart steps in as associate dean
SHASS is pleased to welcome Professor of Political Science Charles Stewart III as associate dean. In his new role, Professor Stewart will be focusing on the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences component of the General Institute Requirement, as well as new initiatives in the social sciences.
Professor Stewart specializes in American politics and behavior, political institutions, and research methodology. He is currently working on a five-volume compilation of the history of congressional committees for the Congressional Quarterly Press, and has recently published Analyzing Congress (2001), a study of congressional politics from the perspective of rational choice theory. Professor Stewart's research has also appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Studies in American Political Development, as well as numerous edited volumes.
Professor Stewart, who has been at MIT since 1985, received the SM and the PhD from Stanford University, and the BA from Emory University. Since arriving at MIT, he has been honored with the Everett Moore Baker Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, a MacVicar Faculty Fellowship, the Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Award, and the Franklin L. Burdette Pi Sigma Alpha Award.
Photo: Donna Coveney.
CSD hosts National Initiative for Minority Women Faculty
In January of this year, the Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine at MIT (CSD) held a two-day conference to explore the issues faced by women of color pursuing careers in science and engineering faculties around the country. Evelynn M. Hammonds, associate professor of the history of science and director of the CSD, was co-facilitator of the event with Angela B. Ginoria, professor of women's studies and psychology at the University of Washington.
Professor Hammonds, who is also a member of the MIT Committee on Campus Race Relations, notes that many of the participants were surprised by the disparity that remains for minority women in the sciences. In the January 30, 2002 edition of Tech Talk, Hammonds argues that the data presented at the conference demonstrate a shocking scarcity of minority women at all levels. "In the top 50 chemistry departments in the United States," Hammonds says, "among female faculty only one full professor is black, five are Hispanic, eleven are Asian-American, and one is Native American."
Conference participants expressed a renewed commitment to widening the scope of opportunities available to minority women in the sciences, in the hopes that the next generation will not face the isolation and marginalization experienced by the current generation. The conference also gave participants the chance to exchange information on current and future projects.
Professor Hammonds holds the SM in Physics from MIT and the PhD in the History of Science from Harvard. Her research is in the history of science, medicine, and public health in the United States and she is the author of Childhood's Deadly Scourge: The Campaign to Control Diphtheria in New York City, 1880-1930 (1999).
Photo: Laura Wulf.
Copyright © 2002 Massachusetts Institute of Technology